S’Arabia crane incident: 6 Nigerian pilgrims buried

Mecca (Saudi Arabia)—Nigeria’s Consul-General to Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Umar, said yesterday that the six Nigerian pilgrims, who died in the September 11 crane incident in Mecca had been buried.

Briefing newsmen in Jeddah, he said the bodies were buried on September 18 in a “specially designated cemetery” in Mecca, where all victims of the crash were also buried.

The Consul-General, who led a delegation of the consulate and Natio-nal Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, at the burial, said the bodies were buried after receiving invitation of the Saudi authorities.

He said the consulate and NAHCON officials were fully engaged in the burial arrangement that took place on Friday evening.

He also said that the six Nigerian pilgrims that sustained injuries during the incident had received special attention, with some of them discharged while others were still in the hospital.

He said consulate had also organized officials of the affected states in the event of pay-out of the money recently announced by Saudi Authority for the victims.

Saudi Authority had announced that it would give 1m Riyals (N53.1m) to the families of each of the deceased.

The authority announced that those who sustained permanent disability would get same amount, while others with minor injuries would get half of the amount.

The consul-general, however, said that the money would be given to relations of the deceased and other victims of the crash.

He said that Nigerian government was surprised with the kind gesture of King Salman bin Abdulazeez, who donated the money.